Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Sheilbh]

It's strange in London there is a huge split depending on the type of transport. People overwhelmingly masked on the trains, most people masked on the buses, few people masked on the tube (which is probably the reverse order of risk).

There also seems to be a huge generational split - I was in the British Museum for the Hokusai exhibition and have been out and about a lot more lately - and broadly it seems like old people are still masking pretty routinely, while many young people have just stopped. But it was really striking because you had proper tweed, pearls, hair set like a helmet and now they've added a mask to that uniform

Of course I'm a rules and vibes based masker personally

Edit: And I've no idea why there's the variance on different types of public transport

[garbon]

I've seen little to no difference between DLR, Tube and trains. Seems like a free for all with all three.

[Sheilbh]

I've not been on DLR. And on trains within London I basically get the Thameslink train in and out of St Pancras - so very much a commuter train rather than the Overground. But I would say it's about 80% masked. That might be because it's a commuter train and especially in the morning it is starting to get properly crowded again (it feels almost pre-pandemic busy on some mornings).

Similarly buses on my rotes are pretty well masked. But the Tube is as you say a free for all.

[garbon]

Yeah I've mostly been on southeastern and southwestern and no real pattern I see.

[crazy canuck]

So there's reason to think the kids vaccine will be approved by the end of the year.

Here's my question though - the kids vaccine is based on a dose about 1/3 the amount for those 12 and up.  But my oldest is turning 12 next year.  He's already tested positive for Covid (asymptomatic).  Would he be better off waiting to get the adult vaccine?

A good question to ask your doctor.

[Sheilbh]

Vaccine take-up in Europe v current death rates. I totally get why people who grew up in the Communist are not trusting of a new medicine their government is pushing especially where there's been significant corruption in the post-Soviet societies. But this is just so sad - I don't know enough in the countries involved to know what more could have been done to get more people jabbed


And, again, a number of those countries have now been so badly hit by covid that their fatalities have overtaken fuck ups like the UK, Italy, Belgium and Spain

[DGuller]

Ironically, the communist countries were pretty good about cheap preventative medicine, it's the complex treatment where they really fell short.  I think the problem today in Eastern Europe is not so much the direct distrust of the government, but rather the endemic uncritical skepticism that everyone suffers from, which makes people easy prey for conspiracy theories.

[Admiral Yi]

Vaccine take-up in Europe v current death rates. I totally get why people who grew up in the Communist are not trusting of a new medicine their government is pushing especially where there's been significant corruption in the post-Soviet societies. But this is just so sad - I don't know enough in the countries involved to know what more could have been done to get more people jabbed

We seem to be getting fairly good results with making it a condition of employment in the US.

[Zanza]

Germany's decentralized healthcare system is incapable of providing accurate vaccination figures by the way. We had about 40.000 private doctors involved in the campaign and now assume the real vaccination rate to be up to 5% higher. They will only eventually find out via consolidation of payments of the again decentralized 200 health insurance companies...

Staggering incompetence when you consider how important the figure is...

[Zanza]

We seem to be getting fairly good results with making it a condition of employment in the US.

I would actually like to see that here, but that would be unconstitutional here except on narrowly defined exception, e.g. regular contact with vulnerable persons.

[Admiral Yi]

I would actually like to see that here, but that would be unconstitutional here except on narrowly defined exception, e.g. regular contact with vulnerable persons.

You have a constitutional right to refuse medical care, or something like that?

[Zanza]

Article 2
[Personal freedoms]

(1) Every person shall have the right to free development of his personality insofar as he does not violate the rights of others or offend against the constitutional order or the moral law.

(2) Every person shall have the right to life and physical integrity. Freedom of the person shall be inviolable. These rights may be interfered with only pursuant to a law.

Yes, refusing medical care is obviously a basic right of every person. Specifically, the state has to safeguard "physical integrity", which I find a poor translation from German. It means that you are sovereign over your body. 

[Admiral Yi]

Interesting.  So parents can opt their kids out of vaccines, like measles and such?

[Syt]

In Austria the employer can't ask you to get vaccinated, but they can require new hires to be vaccinated. I've seen several job ads asking applicants to be vaccinated, maybe 20-25%.

[celedhring]

In Austria the employer can't ask you to get vaccinated, but they can require new hires to be vaccinated. I've seen several job ads asking applicants to be vaccinated, maybe 20-25%.

Here employers can't even ask for your vaccination status. It's illegal to request the medical history of new hires.

However, there's a loophole: since safety protocols differ between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees, they can ask you which one would apply to you.